Buffer



' BUFFERA Filed o'ct. 4, 1930 1N VENTOR A TTQRNE Y;

Patented, Nov'. 21, l1934.

norma George 1I. Zouck, Orange, N. J., assigner to Franklin RailwaySupply Company, New York. N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Applicationoctober 4, 19st, swarm, 486,298

z claim.; (o1. 21a-221) This invention relates 'to buffers andparticu--` larly to buffers for use between railway vehicles, forexample between locomotives and their tenders. s g

One of the primary objects of my invention is the provision of a bufferconstruction which is simple, compact and effective.

A more specic object resides in the provision of a buifer device forrailway vehicles of such lo construction that it will occupyconsiderably less space in width than known buffers of the same generaltype. x l

A further object resides in the'provision of a buffer device of the typeemploying spring urged l5 buffer sustaining wedges in which the bufferelement, the sustaining wedges' and the spring means arein whatV may betermed nested arrangement whereby a very compact buier device isprovided.

'20 Another object resides in the provision of means, in abuifer deviceof -the character described, adapted to facilitate assembling of thedevicev and coupling of the vehicles.

Still another object is to provide means for taking up wear inthevdevice.

How the foregoing, together with. such other objects and advantages, asmay hereinafter appear, orare incident to my invention, are realized isillustrated in preferred form inthe accom.

- panying drawing. wherein- Fig. A1 is an elevational view 'of theadjacent end portions of two railway vehicles, such as a locomotive andits tender, illustrating my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of my improved buil'er construction with afragment of the frame of the tender shown in section as taken on theline 2- 2ofFig.1. g Y Fig 3 is a longitudinal section through the devicetaken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2 and Fig; 4 is a fragmentary plan viewsimilar to Fig. 2 but illustrating a modication of the invention.- A sIn the drawing the adjacent end portions of the tender and locomotiveframes are indicated at 5 and 6 respectively.v A draw bar 'l of usualforni is employed the ends of which are secured -in the pockets 8 and 9by means of coupling pins 10 and 11.

v The'locomotive framecarries a buifer 12 and the tender frame isprovided with a buffer pocket 13 in which the tender buer 14 is located.A chaflng block 15 oatinglymounted on the locomotive buffer 12 islocated between the tender and locomotive buffers, which buifers arerespectively provided with cylindrical and spherical surfaces 16 and 17.v'1"he chang block 15 'is provided with 'corresponding surfaces 1 8 and19 andjis free to shift laterally in operation.

i The tender buffer 14 is yieldingly 'sustained by means of a pair ofsustaining wedges 20 and 21 nested in or carried by the "buffer, i. e.,the wedges are icated in thebuiIer 14 between the top and bottomplate-like portions 22 and 23 forming an open ended'and open sidedpocket in the buffer.

The wedges 20 and 21 are automatically movable transversely of the vforeandaft line of thrust by yieldable means in this instance shown in theform of compression springs 24 and 25,4

one located within the other. The buffer 14 is provided with rear faces27 and 28 which are oppositely inclined inward and frontwardv (speakingwith reference to the acting face 16 ofthebuffer) The front face of thewedge 20 is inclined to coact with the face 27 of the buffer and thefront face of the' wedge 21 is inclined to coact with the other face 28of the buffer. Stated in another way the. b uifer 14 is provided with av-shaped cavity, with the. inclined faces 27 and 28 of which the frontinclined faces of the wedges 20 and 21 coact.'

The rear faces 29 and 30 of the wedgesengage the end face 3l of thepocket 13 and the wedges are of such Width that a space 32 is providedbetween their adjacent side faces and spaces 33 between their opposedside faces and the sidefaces or walls of the pocket so that they arefree to move laterally`a suillcient distance to act in thek mannerhereinafter described.

The compression springsv 24 and 25 are located between the wedges 20 and21 for which purpose the wedges are provided with pockets facing each'other. Thus the springs are nested or confined in the wedgesand normallytend to urge the wedges apart which, in turn, causes the wedges to acton the inclined faces of the buffer 14 to move it outward andautomaticallyJ press it against the chafing block 15, and the chaiingblock against the buffer 12, thus taking up all looseness in the drawbar coupling between the locomotive and tender or other adjacentvehicles with which the device is being employed. The device minimizesshocks on the drawbar in starting, and' acts as a cushioningv deviceunder conditions where the vehicles are thrown forcibly toward oneanother, In order to prevent the buffer 14 from being displaced'from thepocket' 13 when the vehicles are uncoupled, I employ a removable pin 34extending through elongated openings 35 in the buffer and through holesin the top and bottom walls of the pocket 13.

A headed bolt 36 extends through holes in eachwedge with the headengaging' one of the wedges as at 37. The other end of the bolt carriesa nut 38, and a collar 39 adapted to be engaged with the other wedge. Inapplying the buifer'the nut 38 is screwed up until the collar 39 engagesthe wedge 21 and then by continuing to screw up the nut, the springs 24and 25 are compressed, thus removing the pressure from the buffer block(see Fig. 2). When the vehicles have been coupled together, for exampleby the draw bar 7 and pins 10 and 11, the nut 38 is screwed back againsta cotter pin 40, as indicated in dot and dash lines in Fig. 2, and theexpansion of the springs causes the wedges to separate and force thebuffer block into normal position.

As wear vtakes place the wedges gradually separate more and more untilfinally the collar 39 engages the nut 38 and unless provision is made tothe contrary, new edges or a new buffer would have to be employedaccording to where the wear took place. I propose to continue using thesame parts even after wear develops to such a point by employing shims41 y .between the face 3 1 of the pocket 13 and the rear faces 29 and`30of the wedges. To apply these shims the nut 38 is screwed up until thegroove 42 in the collar 39 comes in line with the outside edge of thebuffer pocket 13. When the springs have been thus compressed the shimsmay be readily inserted in place through elongated openings 43 in theside walls of the buffer pocket. The bottom 44 of these openings islocated somewhat above the bottom of the pocket to provide an abutmentpreventing unintentional displacement of the shims.

When the springs are again released by moving the nut 38 to itsoutermost position, the Wedges again act as above described, althoughthey have moved forward an amount equal to the thickness of the shims.An elongated opening 45 is provided in the end wall of the pocket 13topermit such movement.

From the Fforegoing it will be seen that I have provided a very simple,compact, and effective buffer' construction in which the parts arenested together, so to speak, in a manner that the sustaining wedges andsprings lie within the Width of the buier, and this without making itnecessary to employ a wide buffer.` Furthermore, the novel form andarrangement of the Wedges enables me to employ the same spring means forboth wedges. Although I have shown two springs, one within the other, Imay in some instances employ one spring only. My invention isparticularly advantageous where space limitations are such that thebuffer device must be of the least possible width. Furthermore, thearrangement is such that the parts are protected from the action of theelements and the entire buffer blockI with its wedges and spring meansmay be housed in a buffer pocket of small dimensions; In this connectionit is pointed out that the vhousing of the spring means within thewedges themselves makes it possible to greatly reduce the overall widthof devices of this character.

While I have illustrated the buier 14 as cornposedof a single member itis to be understood that I also contemplate employing multipart .buffersI claim:

1. BulTer mechanism for use between an engine and its tenderinterconnected by a draw-bar, said mechanism including a buffer pocketmounted on one of the vehicles, the pocket having a base normally Xed orrigid with respect to the vehicle on which it is mounted and furtherhaving an openf ing presented toward the other vehicle, a bufling memberbetween the vehicles mounted in said pocket with a'portion thereofprojecting through said opening with freedom to react against theopposite vehicle, and means for yieldingly advancing `said buning memberto bear against said opposite vehicle so as to place the draw-bar undertension, said means including a pair of wedge devices interposed betweenthe bufling member and said base and adapted to move towardand away fromeach other transversely of the vehicles, the said devices having wedgesurfaces cooperating with the buflng member and with said base, thewedge surfaces of said devices being so angled as to advance the hurlingmember when the wedge devices are moved away from each other, resilientmeans housed Within the wedge devices and therefore also within thelpocket and reacting between the Wedge devices to maintain the drawbarunder tension, and a normally inoperative bolt structure extendedtransversely of the vehicles through said wedge devices providing forcompression of the resilient means for purposes of assembly,disassembly, adjustment and thev like, a side wall of the pocket beingapertured in' line with the bolt structure and the bolt strucl anduncoupling of the draw-bar.

2.`Buier mechanism for use between an engine and 'its tenderinterconnected by a draw-bar, said mechanism including a buffer pocketmounted on one of the vehicles, the pocket having a substantially ilatbase lying in a plane extended generally transverse the vehicles, whichbase is normally fixed or rigid with respect to the vehicle on which itis mounted, and the pocket further having an openingV presented towardthe other vehicle, a bufling member between the vehicles mounted in saidpocket with a portion thereof projecting through said opening withfreedom to react against the opposite vehicle, and meansfor yieldinglyadvancing said bufng member to bear against said opposite vehicle so asto place the draw-bar under tension, said means including a pair ofwedge devices interposed between the buffing member and said base andadapted to move toward and away fromeach other transversely of thevehicles, the said devices having `wedge surfaces cooperating with thebuing member and with said base, the wedge surfaces lof saiddevices'being so angled as to advance the bufling'member when the wedgedevices are moved away fromeach other, resilient means housed within theWedge devices and therefore also Within the pocket and reacting betweenthe wedge devicesI to maintain the drawbar under tension, a. side wallof the pocket being apertured at a point adjacent said flat basenecessitating uncoupling of the draw-bar or disassembly of the bu'er.

GEORGE H. ZOUCK.

